Returning to Work

Insights, tips and strategies to support you to return to work with confidence.

We know that the financial impact of having children reverberates for the rest of women’s lives, and can affect their lifetime economic security. Wages and superannuation are on hold for many women who take parental leave after the birth of a child.

Just four months into a 12 month maternity leave contract, my boss suggested we fast track to a permanent arrangement. Why so soon when? Because this was my predecessor's second baby... so she was very unlikely to come back: "They usually don't," he informed me with confidence. It is still commonly assumed that women, once they become mothers, are less ambitious than men. And that is especially the case for those seeking to work part-time: according to the Workplace Gender Equality Agency, while women make up nearly half of the workforce, full-time women comprise just one in five employees. And only 6.1% of management positions are part-time.

During a recent flexibility workshop, a manager was at pains to explain to the group how they had retained a female who had returned from parental leave, and accommodated her part-time request, and ensured she was being paid the same as she was prior to parental leave. So far so good... But then he explained that, despite her skill set being in high demand by the business, she was no longer working in that department - she'd been reassigned into a "project role," one that was more suitable to her desired part time arrangement.

For many women, the decision to return to work after having a child can be focused far more on how many days they want to work, rather than what they actually want to do and what they ultimately want from their career. This leads them to make short-term decisions about their career without ever stopping to ask themselves what it is they really want, and inadvertently, overlooking the need to communicate their ambition and potential to their boss.

Did you know that Australian woman retire with an average $92,000 less than men? That 40% of single women retire into poverty and 60% of women aged 65 to 69 have no superannuation? Yep, these are some alarming statistics but no one thinks it will happen to them, do they?! In this article we tell you how you can secure a better financial future.

A professional vision is kind of like your career navigation system. Anchoring you to your values, whilst enabling you to stay true to the dream of what your career could look like, if there were no limitations. It’s an expression of your career ambition and independence, that also reflects your family priorities.

Grace Papers has all the tools and step-by-step support you need to help you successfully transition into parenthood without sacrificing your career, your identity and your values. By properly preparing yourself and those around you, and by considering who you are and what you want, you can smoothly transition in and out of the workforce while building a family.

Catherine Brooks is one of the most impressive people I know. She's a Principal at Moores, an accredited specialist in workplace relations law, co-founder and Director of Natural Supply Co an online natural beauty, skincare and lifestyle store, the founder of Facebook Group ‘Help a sister out’ and a volunteer Board member of Women with Disability Victoria.

Are you at work right now? Are you bored? Well if you're a millennial and a female then you probably are. According to a survey from Udemy, almost 50% of women are bored at work and millennials are two times more likely to be bored than baby boomers.

Australia Post's Lauren Jauncey shares how pregnancy doesn't have to be a break in your career. The detrimental impact of pregnancy on your career is well documented. And it's both managers and parents to be who contribute to the perception that having a baby stunts the career ambition of a woman

For many women, the decision to return to work after having a child is focused far more on how many days they want to work, than what they actually want to do, leading them to make decisions about their career without ever stopping to ask themselves what it is they really want to do.

According to last year’s Westpac International Women’s Day Report, if you’re a woman, by age 31 you’ll have hit your peak salary. That’s it, as wealthy as you may ever be. Sure your partner might continue generating wealth for your family but how secure is that?

Pregnancy is often considered a significant career interruption or a complete career diversion for many women. And yes, it's easy to mentally clock off from work when you've got a bun in the oven and you know you'll be taking leave in a few months time. But pregnancy doesn't need to signal the start of a career break. In fact pregnancy is a crucial time to consider your values and your worth and stay engaged with your career.

One thing that I hate about being a parent, actually about being a human, is having to think about dinner. Of course I love eating it, but thinking about what to have, going to the supermarket to buy ingredients, cooking, going back to the supermarket to buy forgotten ingredients, cooking some more...ah its such a drainer. Every. Single. Day. And while I could get away with take-away and eggs on toast as a single working lady, as a mother - I really have to step up my game for my son. Or at least try to. So when I discovered Gourmet Juniors, conveniently available and nutritious ready meals for kids I was over the moon.

In the many coaching sessions we’ve conducted over the years, women transitioning out of the workplace tell us one of two things, either they want the person who is replacing them to be good...but not quite as good as them. Or, they tell us their manager is redistributing their workload amongst the whole team...so are they technically redundant?

Returning to work after having a baby can range from exhilarating to hideously daunting. For some women, getting out of the house and into the adult world is just what they need to shake the baby brain and feel themselves again. For others, the thought of leaving their babe terrifies them more than being locked in a cage with 1,000 rats. But like it or not, it’s a reality many women face.

Seriously I had never considered that my decision to be a working mother was a choice between my country or my children. Nor did it occur to me that if my children attended childcare that I would be cease to be a loving and engaged parent. Rather I thought they were lucky to have the opportunity to be part of the early learning structured environment that childcare provides. They remain happy cherished memories for my three children and now as a grandmother I enjoy seeing my three year old granddaughter blossom and no her parents have not abandoned her.

There are millions of fabulously hardworking talented and driven mothers out there, and Lucy Mills is one of them! Lucy is the director of The Lighthaus, a boutique talent management company providing strategic representation to some of Australia’s top media, fashion and sporting talent including Bec Judd, Adam Goodes and Nadia and Jimmy Bartel.

When Georgene Huang was pregnant and looking to switch jobs, she wanted to know the maternity leave policies of the companies to which she was applying - but the vast majority of companies do not disclose this information publicly. And roughly 80 percent of working women think that it's bad form to ask about maternity leave policies during an interview.

Elise Heslop is the creative founder of Plyroom, which creates sustainable and considered homewares and quality furniture that allow for a simpler way of living. Plyroom supports unique design with a focus on function, simplicity and timelessness.

Every which way you look at it, career progression for women stalls in the "middle years." In our coaching programs and workshops, we have always asked participants to reflect on their values because we know that when their is a misalignment of values between an employee and either their manager or workplace - the culture - they often lose confidence, become disengaged, or leave.

A new study by Harvard Business School on 25,000 of their alumna, confirms again "when high achieving, highly educated professional women leave their jobs after becoming mothers, only a small number do so because they prefer to devote themselves exclusively to motherhood; the vast majority leave reluctantly and as a last resort, because they find themselves in unfulfilling roles with dim prospects for advancement."